I’m a budget grower as I know Alot of y’all are. But I’m trying to get a thread going for the less fortunate growers the ones who either can’t afford he 1000 watt fixture or the energy it pulls. I am one of those that has not all the tea in China. But just enough for me and my family and by growing my meds I should be able to afford alot more secondary luxury’s like a bigger apartment or a RO machine to supplement my aquafina bill (lmao @Familyman), I’m interested in anything anyone has to say about or questions about multiple 400hps or hid equivalent this board is pretty flooded to qb 's they seem to be trending HEAVY I want discussion about hids if possible hope to hear numbers weight pros cons of switching if you have let’s make it interesting
What’s the size/area of your grow space? That’s the first question that might lead to how many big candles you’ll need 
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Nothing wrong with older tech. I’ve seen some nice plants grown without QBs.
2x5 ft really 2 x 6.5 but last 1 .5. s the ac unit
Funky shape for single fixture I agree. The one thing I would like to potentially address is where you’re at with a/c. That’s both taking up room and drawing power. When you take a look around at the qb users, or just about all of the diy leds, most of them aren’t using a/c. I’m not ignorant enough to say the same would be a fact for you, but the potential would definitely be there.
What most people don’t realize is that ideal canopy temp will be higher under most leds than with hid. So as long as your air exchange is setup properly you can get the advantage of a little less forward heat and higher tolerance to run within.
In most cases I would recommend diy over qb because there’s a little more savings. It’s just not something everyone is comfortable doing, so the qb kits and pre assembled option have become a pretty popular.
As we were talking in other thread, those 400 and smaller hid lights are just kinda step kids to their bigger brothers. You could probably bang some really good nugs with two 315 cmh lights in there. But for the cost you could custom build leds specifically for your space at even higher efficacy than the cmh. So it’s all the same there.
Was also wondering if you’re using fresh bulbs? Most will replace hps bulbs every 2-3 runs or less.
My question is… can you grow 1 or 2 outdoors?
Why use lights at all… I myself don’t have that choice… yet… but I know for sure that I could cut my cost of growing indoors by 3/4 of my total cost and would probably increase my yields by 50% … I cant wait… think of being able to control everything… but still being able to use the sun… either way… more info is needed for your situation and what you plan to achieve…
No out doors possible and pay close attention to everything I can I have no ill effect of anything next water is gonna be slf 100 and tap water for a minor first flush just since I’ve been feeding so heavy
You would be way better off with a 4500 Kelvin bulb when using hps… no matter what wattage… but I’ve heard good things about the new cmh technology…
I use 600 watt hps magnetic ballist in a sealed 8 inch xxxl ducted hood with a 4500 Kelvin bulb with great results … 
Ya, you’re married to to the ac for sure. Which really sucks because that floor space could be really useful for you. You’re probably more hampered by the layout of your room than you are lights.
But first things first, that mold has got to go. Like real quick and in a hurry! It’s almost a sure thing to migrate to your biggest buds. I would make a 50/50 water and bleach solution and spray it daily unti it’s gone, and then spray it more. Then hit thay drywall with a flat white sealing primer in an attempt to keep it from coming back.
As @peachfuzz said, take s look at what bulbs are available for your light. A lot of those warmer color temps load up on yellow and green light which doesn’t quite get the plant response that blue and red wavelengths do. I know you’ll be limited with the smaller bulbs as not as big of a horticultural market exists, but doesn’t hurt to check for reasonable alternatives. In the markets those bulbs are designed for luminous flux is the target, and that doesn’t help us much.
The only other thing I would suggest that doesn’t involve spending money, would be to look at some targeted defoliation techniques. That space looks full, so if you can manage to keep some density down the colas would help your harvest weights some.
U say a 4500 is better fr flower then a 2000 range I’m in 21 days flower now,trup I thought 4500 is more a blue veg spec
Because I just switched from a 4500 to go into flower
That light is brand new and only has 20 days of 12 and 12 and the other bulb I have the 4500 k has only about two months of 18 and 6
I’m not familiar with that color temp, so I couldn’t comment on it particularly. I just know there are some specialized bulbs available. I would look around at eye hortilux for some examples. A lot of times the color rendering index of a light can challenge our ideas about proper color temps.
Well I purchased that build specifically for flowering my local hydro guy that turned me ontoeverytging good that I have been getting results from … Slf100, GH Flora nova bloom, fox farm soil cal mag pH up down clonex, cheaper solution to front line hype products got me a nice ballast for my 400 he has expensive stuff but he points me in the right direction for the right price… He hasn’t steered me wrong yet
But isn’t like 4500 to 6500 better for veg and 2000-3000 was ideal fr flower
when do you use this?
I veg under 6500 Kelvin bulbs and I’ve flowered under 3000 Kelvin bulbs… but I find that I get better results and plants seem to be healthier under 4500 Kelvin bulbs… I would only swap out to the 2500 Kelvin bulb for the last 3 weeks of flower if I was using your set up… that would be closer to nature… I’m just to lazy and dont want to be buying a bunch of different bulbs or have a bunch of different bulbs to keep track of or laying around…
So you’re saying that I’m in the wrong Spectrum for the beginning of flowering is it going to really make a difference in the first 3 weeks to be at a higher Kelvin than I have the guy said this was for the 12 and 12 and that’s what I bought I know you can get results with any Spectrum through entire grow but some better than others I do have mixed Spectrum in there because I have a 150 HPS that’s probably 2700 and I have a metal halide mercury vapor which is probably 3000 3500 so I have a really good mix in the middle heavy red of the 400 and the red of the HPS so I thought I had a good mix gone I wish I can find out about the metal halide Spectrum temp and the small and large HPS temp once a 2000 Kelvin is ideal for flowering says it right on the Box 2
Is use a small amount through grow and larger amounts for flushes it’s an enzymatic flag that breaks up salt bulid up so if your heavy feeding like e it’s a must to use some like it other products are citrus base but aren’t as efficient and proven as slf it’s make to break up salt build up and help make congregations of locked up nutrients available for your plant to use its really good stuff look into it my hydro man gave me a sample bottle and said look into the this and it’s not for the novice you have to understand what your doing each step of the way oh I put super kagnumdouble snake and happykangaroo nutcrackerfpim dam flibbleflab doctor fishpoop abrakadraflimllflam that means nothing to ppl that don’t no what each product contains do your research ppl